Fabrication of a novel few-layer WS2/Bi2MoO6 plate-on-plate heterojunction structure with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In this study, a novel few-layer WS₂/Bi₂MoO₆ heterojunction with greatly enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. The results indicated that Bi₂MoO₆ nanosheets were directly grown on the surface of few-layer WS₂ and form plate-on-plate heterojunctions. The synthesized nanocomposites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation. The optimal composite with 5 wt% WS₂ showed the highest photocatalytic activity, whose degradation efficiencies and TOC removal were 99.5% and 91.7% for rhodamine B (RhB), 98.9% and 89.8% for ciprofloxacin (CIP), 76.0% and 67.8% for methylene blue (MB), and 69.3% and 58.6% for methimazole (MMI), respectively. Their excellent photocatalytic performance was predominantly ascribed to the construction of a plate-on-plate heterojunction structure between WS₂ and Bi₂MoO₆, which could promote charge separation efficiency and enhance light harvesting efficiency. The present work provides a new understanding for extending the application of transition-metal dichalcogenides in the field of photocatalysis.